However, somehow the series has developed pride in itself and produced the second-best on the field experience we have played.

There are shades of the American Football holy grail, NFL 2K5 on the original Xbox, that shine through when playing the game. It's not fully at that level but comes closer than the series ever has.

Playing Madden 14 through to 19 in this generation has been like watching a child take their first few steps. Some coherent movements others stumbling blocks.

It seems like everything Madden has tried to do in the last 5 years has finally come to fruition, all the others were alphas and betas for Madden 20.For example, last year supposedly contained “Real Player Motion, with a wider variety of animations for a more logical and coherent experience”.

Now, the feature is fully implemented with the running game being a viable option. Furthermore, Run Pass Option can, at last, be selected ensuring more flexibility when picking plays.

Plays do not feel pre-determined at the huddle, your execution of strategy is paramount to success. Stiff arms and jukes are effective. However, this could be that input frame data has been widened to make it more accessible.

Overall, the teams and players do not feel rubberbanded in matchups as stats seem to matter.

There is a collective on forums and YouTube that shares difficulty, options, and stat changes to make the actual games closer to a real experience.

For the first time, I do not need to spend three months experimenting for a level of fidelity and excitement that makes the playing worthwhile.

The graphics are more focused and clearer with the overall visual display crisper. This is the third Madden game running on the Frostbite engine, that was originally built and designed for EA first-person shooters like Battlefield and Anthem.

The developers seem to finally have a grasp and control over adapting a shooter to a sports game. Yet it would not be a Madden game without strange hit detection and character animations and they still exist.

An attempt at a story mode is attempted with “Face of the Franchise: QB1” that starts off positively with creating your own Quarterback and going through some College Football games along with the NFL Combine and NFL Draft.

However, it descends into a mediocre story experience with limited freedom and options, becoming just an excuse for “Be a Pro” mode with more steps.

This mode also highlights why it is important for players to have helmets on because the character animations dwell deep within the uncanny valley.

Added to the frustration is that the College Football teams and stadiums are currently locked behind this mode with no option to play a regular exhibition match. This is the antithesis of where Madden 20 falls short.

Throughout the over 20 years of the franchise, features have been implemented and removed for no discernible reason and just limit each year's overall package. The meme is that each Madden is just a roster update, but in reality, it's a roster update with elements removed.

There is an absence of major improvements or changes to franchise mode this year, whereas last year had deep improvements to the mode.

The development effort has clearly been spent on the Ultimate Team in making the grind easier for you. However, still, no Ultimate Team web app that FIFA fans get to spend their lunchtimes on.

Thankfully the solo challenge system has been overhauled by being arranged as missions, giving you a roadmap to upgrade your team.

Furthermore, you don’t have to navigate numerous menu screens and loading times to play different challenges, you can now automatically go to the next challenge.

This allows the grind to be quicker to get through but unfortunately, the necessity of microtransactions to be competitive online can be felt.

Speaking of online, I have not come across this year's annoying unstoppable play that everyone uses like Hip Tost in Madden 16 or Slants in Madden 17, but I’m sure it is yet to be discovered

Overall, from the first Pro Bowl game, Madden 20 is a leap and feels like the beginning of the ninth generation of video games.

I daresay this is the beta for a PS5 or Xbox Scarlett release.

The fluid and improved gameplay feel like we are peaking the corner around at Madden 21 on the next-generation of consoles.

Madden games on both the PS4 and Xbox One have been a boring digital microtransaction slog. There is more information than ever on the screen and depending on your preference it can either be informative or overwhelming.

All the extra UI information such as “challenge data” just seems ready for a 4K or 8K screen.